By Jane A. Malkoff MSN RN NP
(Part 2 of 3)
Crisis breeds action as Sandra from Part I (see last week’s blog) clearly found out when she suddenly found herself living her life as a full time caregiver for her spouse and dealing with overwhelming challenges inside the medical system. With her retirement plans drastically changed and her hair on fire, now what? She found Clarity.
Sandra eventually spoke with a friend about her situation and the enormous stress level with regard to her husband’s debilitating life changing condition. She expressed great concern about the ramifications of not being prepared for the health changes often associated with aging, about facility care, about the expense of ongoing care, about legal documents, about lack of full explanations of options or best strategies for how to proceed, and about her own health needs that were being placed on the back burner. Sandra’s friend told her about Clarity Care Advocates and how her attorney had suggested it to her for her parents a few years earlier. Like most people, Sandra soldiered on but eventually after another discussion with her friend and also hearing the Clarity name through a neighbor, she picked up the phone and made the call.
A Clarity Care Advocate nurse was immediately available to Sandra and able to provide a free 60 minute initial consult. This consult allowed Sandra to share her story, voice the breadth of her concerns to someone who understood the landscape completely, and begin to find relief and hope. There was a good path forward! That one simple call with that one simple free hour was exactly what Sandra needed to determine next steps and discern if she wanted Clarity on her speed dial. She also quickly noticed her hair was suddenly no longer on fire, still smoking perhaps, but not burning. With the immediate relief of a safe, methodical, and effective advocate understanding her situation and initiating effective firefighting, the fire was no longer being fueled.
Sandra entered into the next step with Clarity and was able to prioritize the items on her overwhelming to-do list and begin to work with the advocate to tackle them. Further crises were diverted, a comprehensive assessment was completed, meetings were held and results obtained, all potential options were brought forward and explained, care cost strategies were outlined and put into place with key professionals, the family remained intact, and care was improved. A community was created out of the chaos.
Sandra and her husband may not have the perfect fairy tale ending but they certainly have an amazing outcome worth talking about. Please check out the conclusion and see how they are doing today in Part 3 of 3 in our next newsletter.